That Stephen Fry in America thing was not particularly well-received back home, FWIW. It was, I think quite reasonably, criticised as being superficial and old-fashioned. Inevitably superficial, because if memory serves he raced through fifty states in six episodes. It should not be viewed as the definitive British take on American life.
I don’t think that was his intention. As an American who has spent my entire life in one (huge) city in one (huge) state, I loved it. It made me want to go out and see my own country. He found some interesting, out-of-the way things to enjoy in each state. I even got a little choked up at times.
Now I’m taking in A Bit of Fry and Laurie, and since I love Hugh (no, not giving him back. Forget it.) it’s a gas.
My mom and I have Voco talking alarm clocks featuring Fry’s soothing voice with a ton of different greetings as well as a program that helps you go to sleep. They are totally awesome. We are giving one to my brother and got another for a friend.
P.S. They are not cheap, but they are worth it. You can get them on Ebay or order them directly from Voco, in the U.K. of course.
Politically naive and should steer as clear of that as he should professional sport.
To be honest, I’m starting to tire of him. It feels like he is playing up to his reputation now and for some reason that bothers me.
Do you think so? I think it’s fairly well known that Americans aren’t interested in soccer - I certainly wouldn’t expect any but the few interested fans to recognise a particular team.
On Fry, I kind of agree with amanset. At his best he’s very good, but there’s a slight tendency to phone it in lately. For example, his comments last year (?) to the effect that women don’t enjoy sex as much as men showed a serious lack of critical thinking, or insight, or empathy. Similarly, there’s an occasional tendency on QI for him to steer towards cheap innuendo rather than the supposed Quite Interesting fact being discussed in a way that a) somewhat undermines the basis of the programme and b) can look a little self-satisfied.
He never intended those comments to be publicised. He thought he was just having a joking chat with another gay guy, and was pretty much horsing around. The other guy, then turned this informal chat into an ‘interview’ and submitted it.
Hmmm, okay then.
In fact, reading this does put the whole thing in a better light. I may have been a little hasty there.
That battle wouldn’t be anything like as difficult if he actually decided to take medication.
As someone who has bipolar disorder, but does take their meds (and so doesn’t go off the rails or fall into the well of despair on a regular basis) I’m pretty pissed that bipolar disorder has Fry as its poster child as the decision not to take meds “because it might affect my creativity” is both wrongheaded and incredibly selfish. Fry is wealthy and successful, he’ll always have people to help and accommodate him when he’s manic/depressed. But for the ordinary person with the disorder people are often not quite so forgiving, and thinking “well Stephen Fry chooses not to take meds so I guess that must be some kind of method in that” will be no comfort when you’re locked up in a mental hospital because you believe MI5 are trying to control you.
I’m also a very creative person and I’ve never had any problems since taking my meds in being equally imaginative, funny or having a large personality. It’s just now I live within the same band of behaviour and emotion as other people rather than fluctuating between “teh crazy” and not caring whether I live or die. If I can live like this then so can Fry, and he’d serve as a far better example to people.
[/Rant]
If you’ve not read it try to find his “Paperweight” book. One of the few books I can consistently re-read every year or so and enjoy all over again.
Damn, I may have to see that after all.
I’ve been on a Stephen Fry kick this fall – started with all of the “Jeeves and Wooster” with Hugh Laurie, which was a lot of fun if you like that kind of thing. Not everyone does. What ho, toodle pip!
Currently reading his alternative history, Making History, in which a history grad student goes back in time and prevents Hitler from being born. Just got to the point where he’s about to go back in time, so I can’t critique it, but so far I’m enjoying it.
I don’t know either way, but I do know he did stellar job of laying waste to the Catholic church.
Or maybe just a blind spot since his POV is gay. It doesn’t damn everything about his critical thinking, insight and empathy, which have all been shown to be excellent on other subjects.
No human being who ever lived has or had flawless critical thinking, insight or empathy on every single topic we may have an opinion about.
I try to read through threads and respond all at once. Wish I had before last reply. Thanks so much for this!! God I love him more every minute. His use of language makes me giddy.
And as for some of the comments made about him in this thread:
You gotta cut him some slack for self-awareness!
I respect your feelings, I really do, because I can relate, although not directly since I am not manic depressive, but I do have other issues and I totally get the overall point very well.
However, I don’t think it is entirely fair. Yes, Fry is a media figure and one who has more than a negligible amount of respect from the public and therefore his choices may be taken more seriously as a guide for one’s own behavior (vs, say, Snookie). So it does behoove him to consider what he makes public and the effect it will have on others, and without actually asking him directly I think it’s safe to assume, given his clear concern and regard for humanity generally, that he has and does consider what effect his sharing has.
I believe he probably weighed the value of sharing the fact that he’s manic depressive, which would be to help reduce stigma and fear that others have in seeking help or even recognizing that they have a problem, and the potential impact of also sharing his choices (he couldn’t do one without the other, obviously: “Hi world, I have manic depression. What I do about it I’m keeping to myself. Hope you found that helpful…bye!”), risking the possiblility that others, less able to cope with their condition sans medication, would follow his lead, and decided that the potential for good outweighed the bad. No way to know if he was right, unfortunately. *
I don’t think that he has any obligation to actually make a different choice, however. I’m sure you recognize that everyone experiences pretty much everything differently, and that certainly includes how people experience psychological disorders to begin with, as well as the way they experience medications to treat them. You obviously find they give you an acceptable balance between the unwanted excesses and creative numbness, but that doesn’t mean that Stephen Fry is just like you and experiences it the same way.
As someone who has had the idea of anti-depressants suggested to me as a means of managing what can sometimes be paralyzing anxiety and also as a possible treatment for the constant struggle of functioning in spite of severe ADD, my answer is no as well. Partly because anti-depressants are the bottome of the list for treating those two issues, having a very spotty record of effectiveness to begin with, partly because my experience with Wellbutrin scared the shit out of me (Taken for smoke-stopping power, it turns out I’m allergic. I landed in the emergency room with hives so severe I was actually tearing my skin to scratch them. Amazing what a shot of adrenalin can do!) and partly because, whatever the downsides of my ADD and anxiety going untreated (by anti-depressants, I do treatADD with stimulants and anxiety other ways), I cherish my emotions, mental processes and creativity too much to sacrifice them. My personal suffering is not sufficiently great to make the idea of giving away some of those things for relief compelling.
So while it’s certainly fair to condemn his decision to share his condition knowing he chooses not to medicate it, it’s not fair to expect him to submit to treatment he finds worse than the disease, especially since he’s not the only person who can make that choice and still have a successful life.
*Although I’d like to argue in favor of his decision: it’s always helpful, especially in this day and age, for public figures to share their struggles with issues that are common to many people, because it helps reduce fear and shame to know that rich, famous, successful people are having the same problem you are. In that respect there’s really nothing but good in it, and its usually going to be the thing that finally gets people to believe that it’s ok to be honest about it. It’s not as though many people find themselves fighting the voices of everyone in their lives urging them to keep feeling ashamed and fearful about their problem.
But the possibility that some people will forego personal experience, the advice and pleas of families, friends, doctors, and everyone else in their real lives because one famous person made a different choice of how to deal with the issue is less of a guaranteed result than the positive. So I think the good really does outweigh the bad.
I think S.F. is a nice bloke and would be interesting to meet IRL, but I’m not a great fan of his, though I’ve enjoyed the comedies he’s appeared in.
I found Jeeves and Wooster watchable and totally loved all of the Black Adders plus of course Q.I. but the excellence of these weren’t IMO down to him but to the writing, and other members of the cast.(Sorry Steven)
I found his “In America” flat and uninteresting, and have attempted to watch his latest doc about language, a subject I normally enjoy; but found it rather drawn out as far as content was concerned, somewhat irrelevant and quite frankly boring.
I genuinly sympathise with his B.P. condition, but think that as far as talent or innovation is concerned he is a little over rated.
He came to Holland a few years ago to play the lead role in a Dutch (but English spoken) movie: “the discovery of heaven”.
Agreed on his voice-overs on Little Big Planet. His dry but friendly commentary fits in exactly with the spirit of the game.
His latest television documentary series, Fry’s Planet Word, is one long flub, presenting all sorts of fundamental mischaracterizations and nonsense as fact. You’ll find no shortage of linguists complaining vociferously about this. For example:
Love J&W! Every time I read any of the books (read 'em, if you haven’t), I hear Fry’s and Laurie’s voices. Which is a good thing.